It's January 20something and winter is already grinding on my nerves. perhaps I'm not as hardy as I once was, in fact I know I'm not. I know about living in MN, one has to make an effort to get out and make the most of it. Aside from some limited ice fishing ( and limited success) I've been a bit of a shut in. Jennifer has been lobbying for XC skis, once I get the boat sold this week I'm going to surprise her with a trip to REI and some new boards.
On the boat, yes it's for sale and I've been fielding calls all day today. WTF you say? I am sad to admit it never even left the garage last summer, with my time in AK and a busy work schedule it just never happened. What boat fishing I did do was from my shitty 12' "little boat" and honestly I enjoy the skinny water opportunity it affords. It looks like the big boat will be gone by the weekend so I need to start thinking about it's replacement. I think when I get home from AK this summer I'll be investing in a jon and hopefully a 40 horse Jet outboard. While it's a pretty limiting rig, it would provide us with a kick ass rig that goes both down river and up, could be a big asset for fall muskie guiding in the north woods.
It looks like I got me a part time job! it's been a while since I've actually worked for someone other than myself but it's been a bit slow this winter and I like to work. I'll be doing a couple days a week for a glass guy I met with last night, does some interesting stuff and it's another skill I can add to my set.
Alaska has been on my mind alot lately and we'll be fishing off a new boat this year. Curtis had a number of good things fall into place last year (and a few bad things too) but overall was good enough to sell the Salmo and his sternpicker so he ordered up a custom bowpicker from Anchorage. It'll be a 34 foot diesel twin, 12 foot wide and flush decks. All this means big, fast, efficient and comfortable. At my request he added an gear locker outside the cabin so I don't have to slog in all my stink and fish slime and wet raingear. I'll be leaving MN around the first of June this summer, home end of July. I'm really excited because Jennifer is coming up for a couple weeks at the tail end of my trip. She's never been to Alaska and I'm hoping some of Cordova's charm rubs off on her. It's no secret I'd love to live there and could make a good living with fishing and my carpentry skills. Will I be able to convince her? Time will tell.
As you can tell this is hardly a fishing report and to a certain extent I feel like less than a fisherman sometimes. Jennifer has been complaining about the lack of flaky white fish in the freezer and I've been pretty inept at satisfying her craving for bluegills. I guess we'll have to have another slab of red salmon, rats!
VENISON RULES!
Those who know me know I'm not much of a carnivore, at least when it comes to beef. This was not a conscious decision, I just kinda quit eating red meat about 20 years ago. I think it was the weekly steaks my father prepared, regardless, it was off the menu for a long time. But alas, I have a new found love for Venison. Fred, Don Herschleb and I killed 4 deer this fall on Don's land and after much butchering/brat making and patty slapping we have a freezer full of delicious Venison. It's a nice feeling to know that these animals were harvested and cared for with much respect, fred was insistent on maintaining proper hanging temps so the end result was nothing short of spectacular. As it stands we now have a freezer full of venison and red salmon, so rewarding.
For those with I tunes check out Boot Liquor Radio. Not quite XM outlaw country but still enough to inspire me to crack a beer at 1:25 as I sit here and catch up with ya'all.
The picture up above is one my budding photographer of a bride took. It was a rock bar on Avalanche Creek in Glacier NP, the bar was covered in over 100 rock cairns made by visitors over time. very cool stuff, she never fails to impress me. Great wife, great teacher and good woman. Love you Jennifer.
I'm out, not for so long this time. I promise.
bigpike
Showing posts with label muskie guide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label muskie guide. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Saturday, July 24, 2010
a different kind of fishing trip
It's been a crazy summer, in fact it's been unlike any I've had in years, or ever for that matter.
Now I can't say I haven't been spending time on the water. By all accounts less than most years but this has been a unique season to say the least. I had a great early trout guide season, a wonderful 5 day trip to the Brule and some, albeit limited personal fishing time. The big focus coming into June was Alaska.
The second week of June found me back in Cordova, Alaska. This time I was there with a different mission, no more house building I was going fishing! I was hired by longtime friend and commercial salmon fisherman Curt Herschleb. I was to be Curt's deckhand for the next 6 weeks or so, leaning the ropes of being a gill-netter and man was I stoked! People always seem to ask me if it was like the deadliest catch? Not hardly really, while we had some big seas for the most part the weather was shitty but manageable. There was one deadly side I can address, fatigue. The hardest work I've ever done was over those 6 weeks. Long hours with little or no sleep, adverse conditions and labor intensive work all added up to a couple worn out fisherman. It's pretty common for these guys to go 50-60 hours without sleep, remember it is only dark for maybe an hour a day that time of year, so your ability to stay up is falsely enhanced. We did that shit, 54 straight as I recall, fishing the heck out of the reds over in Main Bay, Prince William Sound. When your making money it's easier, we did OK in that department as well.
Despite the obvious fatigue, I had an extra boost due to the fact I'd never spent that much time on a boat, on the ocean mind you....All that which was eye candy to me, was old hat to most of the guys who fish. Whales are an obstacle to be avoided, killer whales especially. Sea lions are cool unless they are eating your fish, which is usually when you see them. Otters a-plenty, they are cool and don't eat your fish, good otters. We killed a lot of Salmon, not sure of the final poundage, but it was substantial. The primary target was Red's / Sockeye's, they fetch the best price at market and are fun to catch. The other salmon had their day, Chums in abundance at Esther Island and Pinks as the season wore down.
37 days on the boat is what I ended up with and it's true, pictures do not do Alaska justice. If you can, put Prince William Sound on your list of places to visit, it's just that cool. I have a lot of good friends there and Cordova has a place in my soul. I'll be going back next year but this time bringing my bride for a few weeks as well.
Oh ya, I almost forgot! I got to see the west this summer too! A few weeks ago I flew out to Sacramento to meet Jennifer, who was just finishing up school. We took the opportunity to put together a road trip from CA back to MN. I arrived a few days before the official end of school, which gave me an opportunity to learn a bit about striper fishing on the American River. This time of the year, the stripers start to show up in numbers, following the run of Shad. Numbers wise, it's not a huge fishery but gives the local anglers an opportunity at some pretty big fish. After about 3 days of wading and walking I did stick one, about a 20" fish or so. I had a couple other grabs and felt like I was fishing good water, despite my lack of knowledge on the area. A local shop helped out with some intel, albeit cryptic at best. Special thanks to Jimbo & Michelle, Jen's host's in Cali for the amazing gift of being able to stay, totally above and beyond the call of duty.
We waved goodbye to Sac town and headed north. Jennifer had never seen the Redwoods so we were off to Arcata and a drive up 101. Nor Cal is great, but there's so damn many people. We did our best to avoid the major crowds, got in an amazing 10 mile hike in Prairie Redwoods State Park and met a really great family camping there. Having decidied we were going to take the northern route, we headed out for Stevenson WA, on the Columbia, to visit Jen's brother Jeff and his family. Turned out it was his birthday, which provided an excuse to stay up till 2am and drink beer. A long drive up the Columbia, through Spokane and to Couer d'Alene Idaho for the night. From there we made our way to Montana, flanking the Clark Fork for quite some time. All I could do was look longingly at the river, it was drift boat water and we had neither the time or the money for a boat ride, so on the Glacier N.P. it was. Neither Jennifer or I had been to Glacier since we were kids and we both looked forward to the visit. We had no aspirations of going into the back country, but we packed bear spray anyway and stuck to the well used hikes for the most part. We were lucky enough to secure a good site for a couple days, I got to catch a couple Cutty's at Avalanche and Hidden lakes and the hiking was amazing. For those who've never been, go now. Glacier is pretty much out of actual glaciers, only 25 remain and most are only accessible from back country hikes. If you go, make sure to drive the going to the sun road, unless your like me and have vertigo, in that case have the wife drive! I made it 2/3 of the way up before succumbing to the panic. Jennifer on the other hand just cruised right up and kept trying to point out the bighorn sheep, panoramic views and the like. I kept my eyes glued to a map to occupy my brain. Funny thing is, it only bothers me in a vehicle. I could ride those rods on a bike or hike even, no issues. Put me behind the wheel and yikes! Vertigo aside, we loved Glacier and cant wait to visit again. Two long days on the road followed, with a night at Teddy Roosevelt N.P. in Medora, North Dakota and here we are, home again after 2 plus months away.
I missed my dog, I'm awful happy to have her back home. Elsie is 11, getting a little slow and had the great company of 3 young boys for a couple months. She was pretty worn out.
Record flooding in the area last week kept the trout streams in rough shape. I attempted to fish last night but the willow was still raging so I drove to the Rush for a look. The river looked terrible, scoured and lifeless even. I never bothered to wet a line, had a beer at streamside and cruised home. I just got a call from fellow wednesday nighter Rob George and he informed me the Willow River is back down and looking good, so I think I'll give it another shot this evening.
Hope Ya'll are having a good summer.
BigPikeMike
Now I can't say I haven't been spending time on the water. By all accounts less than most years but this has been a unique season to say the least. I had a great early trout guide season, a wonderful 5 day trip to the Brule and some, albeit limited personal fishing time. The big focus coming into June was Alaska.
The second week of June found me back in Cordova, Alaska. This time I was there with a different mission, no more house building I was going fishing! I was hired by longtime friend and commercial salmon fisherman Curt Herschleb. I was to be Curt's deckhand for the next 6 weeks or so, leaning the ropes of being a gill-netter and man was I stoked! People always seem to ask me if it was like the deadliest catch? Not hardly really, while we had some big seas for the most part the weather was shitty but manageable. There was one deadly side I can address, fatigue. The hardest work I've ever done was over those 6 weeks. Long hours with little or no sleep, adverse conditions and labor intensive work all added up to a couple worn out fisherman. It's pretty common for these guys to go 50-60 hours without sleep, remember it is only dark for maybe an hour a day that time of year, so your ability to stay up is falsely enhanced. We did that shit, 54 straight as I recall, fishing the heck out of the reds over in Main Bay, Prince William Sound. When your making money it's easier, we did OK in that department as well.
Despite the obvious fatigue, I had an extra boost due to the fact I'd never spent that much time on a boat, on the ocean mind you....All that which was eye candy to me, was old hat to most of the guys who fish. Whales are an obstacle to be avoided, killer whales especially. Sea lions are cool unless they are eating your fish, which is usually when you see them. Otters a-plenty, they are cool and don't eat your fish, good otters. We killed a lot of Salmon, not sure of the final poundage, but it was substantial. The primary target was Red's / Sockeye's, they fetch the best price at market and are fun to catch. The other salmon had their day, Chums in abundance at Esther Island and Pinks as the season wore down.
37 days on the boat is what I ended up with and it's true, pictures do not do Alaska justice. If you can, put Prince William Sound on your list of places to visit, it's just that cool. I have a lot of good friends there and Cordova has a place in my soul. I'll be going back next year but this time bringing my bride for a few weeks as well.
Oh ya, I almost forgot! I got to see the west this summer too! A few weeks ago I flew out to Sacramento to meet Jennifer, who was just finishing up school. We took the opportunity to put together a road trip from CA back to MN. I arrived a few days before the official end of school, which gave me an opportunity to learn a bit about striper fishing on the American River. This time of the year, the stripers start to show up in numbers, following the run of Shad. Numbers wise, it's not a huge fishery but gives the local anglers an opportunity at some pretty big fish. After about 3 days of wading and walking I did stick one, about a 20" fish or so. I had a couple other grabs and felt like I was fishing good water, despite my lack of knowledge on the area. A local shop helped out with some intel, albeit cryptic at best. Special thanks to Jimbo & Michelle, Jen's host's in Cali for the amazing gift of being able to stay, totally above and beyond the call of duty.
We waved goodbye to Sac town and headed north. Jennifer had never seen the Redwoods so we were off to Arcata and a drive up 101. Nor Cal is great, but there's so damn many people. We did our best to avoid the major crowds, got in an amazing 10 mile hike in Prairie Redwoods State Park and met a really great family camping there. Having decidied we were going to take the northern route, we headed out for Stevenson WA, on the Columbia, to visit Jen's brother Jeff and his family. Turned out it was his birthday, which provided an excuse to stay up till 2am and drink beer. A long drive up the Columbia, through Spokane and to Couer d'Alene Idaho for the night. From there we made our way to Montana, flanking the Clark Fork for quite some time. All I could do was look longingly at the river, it was drift boat water and we had neither the time or the money for a boat ride, so on the Glacier N.P. it was. Neither Jennifer or I had been to Glacier since we were kids and we both looked forward to the visit. We had no aspirations of going into the back country, but we packed bear spray anyway and stuck to the well used hikes for the most part. We were lucky enough to secure a good site for a couple days, I got to catch a couple Cutty's at Avalanche and Hidden lakes and the hiking was amazing. For those who've never been, go now. Glacier is pretty much out of actual glaciers, only 25 remain and most are only accessible from back country hikes. If you go, make sure to drive the going to the sun road, unless your like me and have vertigo, in that case have the wife drive! I made it 2/3 of the way up before succumbing to the panic. Jennifer on the other hand just cruised right up and kept trying to point out the bighorn sheep, panoramic views and the like. I kept my eyes glued to a map to occupy my brain. Funny thing is, it only bothers me in a vehicle. I could ride those rods on a bike or hike even, no issues. Put me behind the wheel and yikes! Vertigo aside, we loved Glacier and cant wait to visit again. Two long days on the road followed, with a night at Teddy Roosevelt N.P. in Medora, North Dakota and here we are, home again after 2 plus months away.
I missed my dog, I'm awful happy to have her back home. Elsie is 11, getting a little slow and had the great company of 3 young boys for a couple months. She was pretty worn out.
Record flooding in the area last week kept the trout streams in rough shape. I attempted to fish last night but the willow was still raging so I drove to the Rush for a look. The river looked terrible, scoured and lifeless even. I never bothered to wet a line, had a beer at streamside and cruised home. I just got a call from fellow wednesday nighter Rob George and he informed me the Willow River is back down and looking good, so I think I'll give it another shot this evening.
Hope Ya'll are having a good summer.
BigPikeMike
Sunday, March 21, 2010
angling
I do not mourn the end of winter and ice fishing, not at all.
For the most part, this winters fishing was pretty limited to a few trips to the park for pike and panfish and a handful of outings on Cedar lake in Mpls, trying in vain to ice a few walleyes. Winter leaves behind it some ugly stuff, especially in the city. A seasons worth of garbage and in my case, 2 five gallon pails of Elsie poop, which I had to clean up this morning, thank goodness it's 25 out and the little devils are frozen. It'll be nice in a few weeks when things start to green up and the memory of another winter (my 42nd) has faded.
Early season trout opened a couple weeks ago to low clear streams and a foot of snow on the ground. The warm temps of the last few weeks broke everything loose and all of the local streams got a good scouring. I had one nice evening on the willow prior to the deluge and landed 3, 2 browns and a rainbow. The previous years rainbow stockings have created a number of holdover fish that have escaped predators and hungry anglers alike and all of the sudden we have some fish in the 15-17" range. They don't fight for shit, but are fun to catch as they will take streamers alongside the browns.
This past wednesday saw the first installment of WNFC (Wednesday night fishing club). For those who don't know, I fish with pretty much the same fellas every wednesday and have for the past few years. It's a beautiful thing, all our gals now know that Wednesday's are off limits, boys night out. We meet at a secret location, OK not so secret but we have a private access parking area which is conducive to enjoying a few beers and even a bonfire now and then. Fishing this week was a little tough, the water was falling but still a little high and off color and very cold from the snow melt. We each landed a nice holdover rainbow, shared a stream beer and kicked off the season in style.
What's with all this bashing of my brother in arms Brad "the Afton Angler" Bohen? The poor fella's is being savaged and slandered by the fishing community at large, but mainly from a few folks, jealous of his success I suppose. He was axed from the MW fly show despite being a huge draw in his speaking engagements. The fly fishing community needs to grow up a little and accept the fact that there are NEW anglers out there, not the tired old lefty-holschlag-FFF-orvis hags who we all have seen and heard for years, do and say the same thing over and over and over again...the problem lies in that they cannot accept the fact that the industry as a whole is dying a slow death and needs to reinvent itself, new faces are and have to be part of the process, new products are now enough. So Brad is a shameless self promoter, big deal! Try being a guide, building a clientele and not ever doing a lick of marketing or promotion, does not work, in this business or any. I've known this dude for 30 years, fished with him in all reaches of this great land and to those who would dare to call Brad a poser, piss off. His angling skills (note angling, not just fly fishing) go beyond what most folks could ever hope to achieve. And really, don't you fools have anything better to do with your time than savage someone over the interweb....
Sunday morning and I'm off to make my wife some breakfast. till next time.
BigPikeMike
For the most part, this winters fishing was pretty limited to a few trips to the park for pike and panfish and a handful of outings on Cedar lake in Mpls, trying in vain to ice a few walleyes. Winter leaves behind it some ugly stuff, especially in the city. A seasons worth of garbage and in my case, 2 five gallon pails of Elsie poop, which I had to clean up this morning, thank goodness it's 25 out and the little devils are frozen. It'll be nice in a few weeks when things start to green up and the memory of another winter (my 42nd) has faded.
Early season trout opened a couple weeks ago to low clear streams and a foot of snow on the ground. The warm temps of the last few weeks broke everything loose and all of the local streams got a good scouring. I had one nice evening on the willow prior to the deluge and landed 3, 2 browns and a rainbow. The previous years rainbow stockings have created a number of holdover fish that have escaped predators and hungry anglers alike and all of the sudden we have some fish in the 15-17" range. They don't fight for shit, but are fun to catch as they will take streamers alongside the browns.
This past wednesday saw the first installment of WNFC (Wednesday night fishing club). For those who don't know, I fish with pretty much the same fellas every wednesday and have for the past few years. It's a beautiful thing, all our gals now know that Wednesday's are off limits, boys night out. We meet at a secret location, OK not so secret but we have a private access parking area which is conducive to enjoying a few beers and even a bonfire now and then. Fishing this week was a little tough, the water was falling but still a little high and off color and very cold from the snow melt. We each landed a nice holdover rainbow, shared a stream beer and kicked off the season in style.
What's with all this bashing of my brother in arms Brad "the Afton Angler" Bohen? The poor fella's is being savaged and slandered by the fishing community at large, but mainly from a few folks, jealous of his success I suppose. He was axed from the MW fly show despite being a huge draw in his speaking engagements. The fly fishing community needs to grow up a little and accept the fact that there are NEW anglers out there, not the tired old lefty-holschlag-FFF-orvis hags who we all have seen and heard for years, do and say the same thing over and over and over again...the problem lies in that they cannot accept the fact that the industry as a whole is dying a slow death and needs to reinvent itself, new faces are and have to be part of the process, new products are now enough. So Brad is a shameless self promoter, big deal! Try being a guide, building a clientele and not ever doing a lick of marketing or promotion, does not work, in this business or any. I've known this dude for 30 years, fished with him in all reaches of this great land and to those who would dare to call Brad a poser, piss off. His angling skills (note angling, not just fly fishing) go beyond what most folks could ever hope to achieve. And really, don't you fools have anything better to do with your time than savage someone over the interweb....
Sunday morning and I'm off to make my wife some breakfast. till next time.
BigPikeMike
Monday, August 24, 2009
miller time
Afternoon All!
The bugs seen in the image on the front page are the venerable White Miller. The millers are a lesser known hatch in our area, in fact good intel on them is hard to come by for the most part. With a little research yesterday, I did learn a little more about their life cycle, which I might add is quite interesting. All I know is trout love 'em and if you can find them, the action can be fast and furious. This image comes from "river X", those who know me or follow the flog know of "river X".
Last night the millers treated me right, I got my largest stream trout of the season (21" +) on a dry about 10pm or so, epic. and no you cant come with me next time, it's my river dammit!
Did I mention the big spiders were out? Ginormous wolf spiders inhabit the shorelines of river X, there on a mission to attack and kill any unfamiliar anglers who happen to stumble down there. Last night I counted a dozen or so of my minions, all guarding their nest's and ready to pounce on whomever I tell them to. Did I mention they were about 2.5 to 4" in diameter. I'll grab some more pic's on wednesday, but in the meanwhile I'll load an image from last year.
whew. nook burger hangover. Jen J and I went up the street to the original nook (saint paulites know the place), came home with intentions of making cookies and walking the dog but ended up on the couch snoozing at 7pm instead.
Back to blogging, 'er flogging as it were.
Whahoo & Robbie are up fishing with Brad for a couple days, muskies out of the drifter. Certainly a good time and as Brad told Robbie, bring your big boy pants....and maybe a change of underwear too.
For those of you not in the immediate know....I'm getting married in less than 2 weeks! I'm pretty stoked, really stoked in fact to be wed to my gal Jennifer. We've been together for quite some time now and I'm really looking forward to the wonderful and amazing things we're going to do together. She's something special that Jen J. The nuptials will take place on 9-5-09 down at Vino in the Valley, this sweet outdoor restaurant and vineyard down on the lower Rush River. Reception to follow in El Paso at Little Whisky. There'll be some beers, some live bluegrass jams and I'm guessing a trip to the El Paso Bar and Grill as well. And if this gal wasn't cool enough, she's camping out on her wedding night with a bunch of close friends. keeper...
Today I was on the Kinni with Les and his son Eric from Soiux Falls SD. Both Les and Eric were rookies, but dang eager rookies willing to soak up info and learn about this trout stream thing and all it involves. I explained a little about my "field trip and you might catch a fish" method and it hit home with both of them. It's so very refreshing once again, to have clients who understand and appreciate the life beyond the stream, and it's no wonder as Les and Eric were embarking on a father & son organic farm project together in SD. BRAVO! These are two fellas immersed in nature and working their butt's off at restoring Harmony within the soil they are working with. I cannot honestly think of a more humbling and rewarding work, and I'm guessing it's hard work. They are versed in many aspects out of the normal farming realm when it comes to how they plan to go about this work, not the least of which is the study of bio dynamic farming, of which Jen J has enlightened me on. google it to learn more, suffice it to say it is a holistic but yet simple and sensible way to grow crops. Oh, and the fishing was OK too. We'll be at it again tomorrow, refining what we learned today and adding some other techniques to the mix as well.
On that note, I'm out. I'm off to rally Jen for a dog walk and an early to bed as I'll be up at 5am again tomorrow.
reel good then.
BigPike
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Working backwards......
Bad Bad blogger......
So, while Jennifer was away I helped myself to a full heaping of angling, roughly 37 days in a row. Suffice it to say I was tired, having piled that on top of work and guiding duties. It's all good though, not complaining and yes, she's been home now for a couple weeks and so ends the hitting streak.
That's how things go sometimes, a fella gets streaky and focused on the task at hand. Those 37 some odd days were filled with some serious and not so serious adventures. I'll do my best to re-cap the last couple blog free weeks.
Working backwards... Last week was all about the trout, in fact that sums up the last couple weeks as I've been laying off the muskies till this week. Tuesday and Wednesday I had the great pleasure of fishing with Mr. Jerry Shurson of the Twin Cities here. Jerry was just beginning his fly fishing career and had a decent base from his other angling experiences and a little smallie/fly fishing on the local rivers. Our goal was simple, get him up to speed on the ways of the local trout water, refine some techniques and catch some damn fish! Jerry was a quick study, perfected his roll cast straight away and proceeded to clean up on the local trout population. Once in a while you get a client who can really put 2 & 2 together, get a fish and see the direct results. Jerry was such a client. We fished the Kinni both days, had one good morning of Trico's and one day of tornadic mayhem. Jerry caught the smallest fish I have ever seen mouth hooked on a fly. Size 20 midge emerger > 1.25" longnose dace. see image, it's almost not believable but he did it. He gets the "dink" award, hands down. I'm very much looking forward to another day with Jerry, we got on really we'll and had a great time. Maybe the Brule in October for a weekend, lets do it Jerry! My other trips have gone pretty well. Had a nice outing on the Rush early last week, with a group of 4 retired gents and my guide buddy Mr Andy Roth. This was a few days before the recent deluge of water and the Rush was still low and clear, but fishing well. Caddis on the surface and nymphs were the ticket. You wont hear me talk much about specific patterns because for the most part, I don't adhere to any specific patterns. it's more of a "put it in the spot" approach, knowing that good presentation trumps the pattern details in most cases. I know I'd get a good argument from the fly techs but that's just the way I play it. So small buggy nymphs, hows that..... Like I said earlier, I've laid off the muskies for a couple weeks. My last good outing was with my muskie buddy Jeremy from lakeland. We got out on the front end of a wicked impending storm and right off the bat J stuck a 46.75 on a cowgirl. Not too much later he put another nice fish, 44", in the boat as well. That made 22 for the year in the boat, not great numbers but only one for under 40" and nine over 44". I'll take it.
Friday, July 24, 2009
River Muskie!!!!!
Good day all!
Here's a quick photo update of the weeks fishing.
Wednesday I had Dan Clayton and his nephew Lance Meister out for a full day of muskie fishing. We got started at 2 and by 2:30 we had a fish in the net! Dan hooked up and landed a super fat 44" muskie on a bulldog, over 40 f.o.w. This has been my strategy of late (deep water suspended fish) and it's paying off in spades. We contacted a couple other fish over the course of the day but none made it to the boat for a picture. Thanks so much Dan and Lance for a great outing, looking forward to sharing the boat with you come Sturgeon Season!
Thursday I had Rick Demarchis and his buddy/workmate Rod in the boat for a half day. Last year on the same trip Rick landed 2, so expectations were high, but we struggled and never managed to see a fish. The mid morning time period, which traditionally has been very good, has been slow. Prime time seems to be the mid afternoon then a lull leading into prime time at dark. They were good sports and understood that sometimes with muskies they bite and sometimes they are just not interested.
What a difference a day makes.....Today I had the pleasure of sharing the boat with Dan Patrick. Dan is a super avid angler, without the means of a boat. He does most of his fishing with a fly rod, from shore on local lakes, and does quite well at that. Today we were intent on catching him a muskie, make that two muskies! We got out at the crack o' dawn, raised a nice fish right off the bat, then the rains came. It poured buckets and hailed plenty as well, but we hunkered down in Afton State Park till it subsided, then the fun began. Our first stop after the thunder was a piece of structure I've been seeing alot of fish on and it didn't let us down. Dan hooked up on a scrappy 42" about 10am or so on a topraider at boatside. Not wanting to see this fish get off, I did the quick scoop and got him in the net in 10 seconds flat! After a couple pictures and high fives, we slid her back and said our thanks to the muskie gods. I said the pressure's off, lets go find another! We fished a couple other spots, made a trolling pass to take a lunch break and keeps baits wet and then headed off to another hot spot. About 2:30 or so his bulldog got inhaled by a fish, a BIG FISH, size LARGE! I knew right away he was into something special and sure as can be, this monster came barreling out of the water, did some crazy maneuvers but my net hands are too quick and she was ours! Both shaking, we got her untangled from the net/hooks etc and stared in awe. 49.5", lets call it 50 shall we? What a beast, great fighter for a big fish and oh so pretty! Another quick net scoop meant a safe and healthy fish on release, we admired her as she swam off, high fived once again and decided that's a good way to end an amazing day. Dan, you're a stud dude! That's big fish of the year and makes 20 river muskies in the boat for the season. Things are really starting to get hot and I aim to stay on this bite right up till the PMTT tourney rolls through in september. Wanna get a muskie, now's the time my friends.
Enough for now, I need a nap. Enjoy the images.
BigPikeMike!
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